By Amazon’s “Reacher” has been a smash hit for the streamer, the TV series has been its biggest performer in years and snags a good bunch of critical acclaim as well.
Of course, the show is not the first shot at bringing the Lee Child books to the screen, which came in the form of Christopher McQuarrie’s 2012 feature “Jack Reacher,” which cast Tom Cruise in the role.
That film has its vocal fans and a mixed-positive review reception, plus it proved profitable for the studio – garnering $218.3 million in worldwide box-office from a $60 million budget.
One thing that most seem to agree on is that the sequel, Ed Zwick’s “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back,” was a dud. The film was critically panned, and the box-office fell to $162.1 million despite a budget equal to or better than its predecessor.
Recently Zwick, in his recently published memoir “Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions,” says (via a Variety excerpt) he understands why the film flopped and mostly blames himself:
“I blame myself (and my willing accomplice, Don Granger) for thinking the audience might enjoy a mash-up of ‘Jack Reacher’ and ‘Paper Moon,’ when in fact they just wanted more red meat.
I had a wonderful time working with Cobie Smulders, and I certainly don’t blame Tom for not being six two – as the novelist Lee Child described his protagonist – and should Tom happen to call about making a third movie together, I’ll definitely pick up.”
He’s referring to Peter Bogdanovich’s 1973 film about a con man taking a young girl under his wing. Funnily enough the admission doesn’t touch upon the main issues many had with the second one, which was less about the script and more that it felt nowhere near as cinematic as the first.
The film’s failure effectively ended the ‘Reacher’ film franchise but did pave the way for the Alan Ritchson-led TV series currently in production on its third season and is expected to have years of life in it.
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